A weekly recounting of the weekend adventures of Tom Kotynski, retired Great Falls Tribune Associate Editor, who prowls Montana's mountains and communities' happenings. All photos and writing are copyright Tom Kotynski.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Wind turns Flesher to Rogers jaunt into an epic

Lots of ups and downs, with the ups always seeming to be in front of us

At this point the bare slopes and trouble came into view

Make no mistake, the 12.8 mile backcountry ski trip between Flesher and Rogers Pass on the Continental Divide Trail is a tough trip.
There's about 2,500 feet of elevation gain, most of it lost in the last mile, along this roller coaster ride of a trail that offers spectacular views of the Rockies and Great Plains.
But what made the trip even harder on Sunday was an unrelenting wind that pushed snow off the the Divide for several stretches, knocking me over and keeping me off balance. Forecasts called for up to 60 mph winds and I believe it. Gusts were even greater and being exposed on a high ridgeline made things worse.

You know you're on the Continental Divide Trail when you see this kind of trail marker. Note the small amount of snow on the trail, which we skied on as we could.

This was the third time Mark Hertenstein and I covered this gorgeous stretch of the trail on a winter run. We agreed that it would probably be our last.
We started at Flesher at 7:45 a.m., at first light and ended some 12 hours later at 7:45 p.m., well after dark.
Trail-finding is very difficult because deep snow covers the trail-blazes on trees. As we did last year on an unsuccessful attempt at this trip we veered off about a third of the way into the journey before we corrected. We also wasted about a half-hour after taking a wrong turn on the Anaconda Hills, where we started down the ridge toward the Mike Horse Mine.
Once we got out of the wooded part of the trip we were exposed to the winds that never let up. We had to take off our skis and walk on those parts of the trail that the wind had cleared of snow. Much of the second half of the trip we followed small patches of snow that had been protected by the ridges of the path. When there were large patches of snow, the wind carved it up and put "speed bumps" in our way, making it tough to proceed.
Abundant sunshine made the day more enjoyable because we could see clearly the spectacular scenery in all directions.
We reveled in the remote and wild feel of this stretch of the trail, almost certain that no one had traversed it this winter because of its rugged nature.
We hit the Rodgers Peak area high above Rogers Pass (yes, different spellings) just as the sun had set.
That meant we had to drop the final 1,700 feet of icy, tree covered trail in the dark.
Mark found a great route down. Snow was soft in the trees, but the trees were too closely spaced to descend that way for too long. We cut back and forth across the hard pack in a stream bottom until we finally reached the car at Rogers Pass.
Then it was back to Flesher and then home, a destination I finally reached exhausted at 9:45 p.m.

New 2015 Front Book edition now available

2006 Front book updates and corrections

On Feb. 24, 2008 I posted updates and corrections for the 2006 edition of my book, "Discover the Rocky Mountain Front." This has been corrected in the second, 2015 edition, released June 10, 2015. In the First Edition, these are important for a number of reasons. First, there's an significant correction to the Muddy Creek Falls hike. Second, there's an update on trails affected by the 2007 fires season. Finally, there is a land ownership change in the Falls Creek Roadless Area, effectively closing the area from the Dearborn River.To find these updates you can go to the archive and look for February 2008, or search for "Front book updates."I will also be glad to e-mail these to anyone who asks. Contact me at: tomkotynski@msn.com and put "front updates" in the title line.Tom KotynskiFebruary 2008